Method and apparatus for establishing transport channels for a femtocell

Abstract

Some embodiments are implemented in a communication system that includes a first wireless communication system and a second wireless communication system that includes a Femtocell access point (FAP) and a network controller that can communicatively couple the FAP to the first wireless communication system. In some embodiments, the network controller can communicatively couple to the first wireless communication system through a UTRAN Iu interface. Some embodiments provide a resource management method that determines that a user equipment (UE) has roved in a region serviced by the FAP. The FAP includes a generic access resource control (GA-RC) protocol sub-layer. The method creates a separate GA-RC state dedicated to the UE in the GA-RC protocol sub-layer. The method also sets the GA-RC state dedicated to the UE to a deregistered state to indicate that the UE is not registered to use the services of the second wireless communication system.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A communication system comprising:
 a) a wireless first communication system comprising a licensed radio access network and a core network comprising a general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GSN); and 
 b) a second communication system comprising a network controller and an access point that operates using licensed wireless frequencies covering a short-range distance, the access point communicatively coupled to the network controller, the network controller communicatively coupling the second communication system to the core network of the wireless first communication system, 
 wherein the GSN comprises a GPRS tunnelling protocol (GTP-U) protocol layer, wherein the access point comprises a GTP-U protocol layer directly coupled to the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN, wherein the GSN further comprises a user datagram protocol (UDP) protocol layer below the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN, wherein the access point further comprises a UDP protocol layer below the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point, wherein the UDP protocol layer of the access point is communicatively coupled to the UDP protocol layer of the GSN. 
 
     
     
       2. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the access point terminates a GTP-U tunnel directly between the access point and the GSN. 
     
     
       3. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the network controller is communicatively coupled to the core network of the wireless first communication system through a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) Iu interface. 
     
     
       4. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the GSN is a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN). 
     
     
       5. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the GSN is a gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN). 
     
     
       6. An access point of a first communication network, the access point operates using licensed wireless frequencies covering a short-range distance, the first communication network further comprising a network controller communicatively coupling the access point to a core network of a wireless second communication network comprising a licensed radio access network, the core network of the wireless second communication network comprising a general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GSN), the access point comprising:
 a) a GPRS tunnelling protocol (GTP-U) protocol layer for directly coupling the access point to a GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN; and 
 b) a user datagram protocol (UDP) protocol layer below the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point, wherein the UDP protocol layer of the access point is communicatively coupled to a UDP protocol layer of the GSN. 
 
     
     
       7. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the GSN is a serving general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (SGSN). 
     
     
       8. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the GSN is a gateway general packet radio service (GPRS) support node (GGSN). 
     
     
       9. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the network controller is communicatively coupled to the core network of the wireless second communication network through a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) Iu interface. 
     
     
       10. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the network controller does not comprise a GTP-U protocol layer, wherein the coupling of the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point to the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN comprises coupling the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point to the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN over a remote Internet Protocol (IP) protocol layer of the network controller. 
     
     
       11. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the network controller does not comprise a UDP protocol layer for a packet switch domain, wherein the coupling of the UDP protocol layer of the access point to the UDP protocol layer of the GSN comprises coupling the UDP protocol layer of the access point to the UDP protocol layer of the GSN over a remote Internet Protocol (IP) protocol layer of the network controller. 
     
     
       12. The access point of  claim 6 , wherein the access point terminates a GTP-U tunnel directly between the access point and the GSN. 
     
     
       13. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the network controller does not comprise a GTP-U protocol layer, wherein the coupling of the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point to the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN comprises coupling the GTP-U protocol layer of the access point to the GTP-U protocol layer of the GSN over a remote Internet Protocol (IP) protocol layer of the network controller. 
     
     
       14. The communication system of  claim 1 , wherein the network controller does not comprise a UDP protocol layer, wherein the coupling of the UDP protocol layer of the access point to the UDP protocol layer of the GSN comprises coupling the UDP protocol layer of the access point to the UDP protocol layer of the GSN over a remote Internet Protocol (IP) protocol layer of the network controller.